


Unmasked

by karmicMayhem



Series: Roman, the lonely actor [2]
Category: Sanders Sides, Sanders Sides (Web Series), Thomas Sanders
Genre: Coffee, Fluff, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Sweet, a lil angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-14
Updated: 2018-04-14
Packaged: 2019-04-22 16:42:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,335
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14312904
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/karmicMayhem/pseuds/karmicMayhem
Summary: Virgil worries about Roman. He decides to talk to him about telling the other two.





	Unmasked

 

Virgil looked up from where he had been examining his nails at Roman who sat across from him, lost in thought. They sat in momentary silence in Roman’s room. A few days had passed since their talk, and the two had grown a bit closer. Virgil made sure to stop by Roman’s room once every so often to just sit and talk with him. It seemed to calm both of them down to have someone to just… _vent_ to.

 

That was why he was here now. As much as Roman might try and deny it, keeping everything to himself for this long was taking more of a toll on him than he even let _himself_ acknowledge. Virgil had been subtly looking for a way to bring the issue up to the creative side again. Thus far, he’s only managed to awkwardly suggest they paint their nails with the multitude of colors Roman possessed.  

 

Now Virgil had black and purple storm clouds on his nails and was no closer to knowing how to bring the subject up.

 

They both froze as a knock emitted from the creative side’s door.

 

“Ro? Can I come in?” Patton’s voice drifted in from the other side of the closed door.

 

Roman and Virgil shared a look before Roman turned back to the door. “The door’s open, Padre.” he finally said, his voice steady.

 

Virgil watched in surprise as Roman stood up and, in less than a second, seemed to _shift_ in front of his eyes. His shoulders were drawn back instead of the slumped position they _had_ been in. A smile stretched across his face as he ran a hand through his hair to fix it into its normal princely state. Thankfully he had already been wearing his prince outfit, so he didn’t have to switch back. It brought to Virgil’s mind, the image of a rather skilled chameleon.

 

 _I’ll give him this_ , he thought as he tried to school his expression back to its normal state, _he’s damn good at what he does_.

 

The door opened and Patton walked in, blinking in surprise as he spotted Virgil sitting on the bed. “Oh, there you are Virge!” he paused to give Roman a puzzled smile. “Well, one of the things I was going to ask was if you’ve seen Virgil, but I guess there’s no need now!”

 

Virgil raised his hand to show Patton his fingernails. “I wanted to paint my nails, but my room only has black polish.” he didn’t miss the grateful look Roman shot him for playing along.

 

“Ohhh, that’s really neat, kiddo!” Patton said enthusiastically.

 

Roman tilted his head curiously at the moral side. “What was the other thing you wanted to ask?” he asked.

 

Patton snapped his fingers as he seemed to remember his previous cause for coming. “I was going to let you know that today’s the day you said you’d make cookies with me!”

 

Roman’s grin grew. “Ah, of course! I wouldn’t miss such a delightful time with my favorite puffball for anything in the world!” his arm raised up as he spoke in a dramatic and practiced motion. “I’ll gladly be down shortly to join you, Patton. I just need to take care of a few more things first.”

 

The moral side smiled brightly back. “Alrighty! Take your time, love. There’s no rush.” his smile turned mischievous. “But if you take _too_ long, I’ll make and eat all the cookie dough by myself.”

 

A fond smile graced Roman’s lips. “I’ll be sure to remember that, my dear Patton.”

 

Virgil watched as Patton turned and shut the door behind him, leaving the two alone again. Roman’s shoulders and smile dropped near instantaneously. He walked over to his bed and collapsed face first onto it with a groan.

 

Virgil smirked. “Not feeling up to it today, Ro?”

 

Roman only grumbled into the mattress before flipping around to look up at the other. “I don’t have the energy to act like my normal self for _that_ long today. I’m already drained from _just now_ and that was only for a minute or so.”

 

“I know the feeling.” Virgil said, nodding sympathetically before looking back at the other in amusement. “I gotta say though, it’s really impressive seeing things from this side of your act, Princey.”

 

Roman flushed slightly in embarrassment. “I’ve just had a lot of practice.” he finally mumbled, shrugging one shoulder as he sat up. He seemed to be rubbing the soft blanket under him in some sort of self-comforting motion.

 

Virgil observed the other for a moment before asking the question he had been putting off, “So, have you given more thought to telling the others yet?”

 

The creative side huffed in annoyance. “Tell them what? That I’ve been lying to them for years? That my entire personality is a _sham_? Am I supposed to tell them that I barely sleep from the stress I’m under to create?” he paused and ran a hand through his hair before continuing. “I can’t burden them with that knowledge. And I’m… afraid to tell them how much I’ve lied to keep this up. They’d be so _disappointed_ in me.”

 

Virgil felt a pang of sadness hit him as he listened to Roman’s exhausted tone. He really did know where the other was coming from, but still…

 

“I think they would understand if you explained it to them, Ro.”

 

Roman shook his head. “Why would they? Logan hates being lied to, and he’s the one in charge of holding all of the ‘truths’ that exist. And Patton…” he grimaced at the thought, “He’s _so_ against lying. You’ve seen it too, when Deceit showed up. Pat’s the moral one, I can’t tell him that I’m _just_ as bad as Snakeface Mcgee. Actually I’m probably worse. At least _he’s_ honest about being a liar.” Roman had progressively been slouching down as he spoke, his last sentence muffled by him hiding his face in his knees with his arms wrapped around his legs.

 

Virgil’s eyes widened at the hopeless statement from the creative side.

 

“Okay, no.”

 

He watched as Roman’s head tilted up at his authoritative tone. “Wha-” he started, but stopped as Virgil waved him off as he stood.

 

“Believe me, you are _nowhere_ near as bad as him. Secondly, I can tell that you’re spiraling downwards right now, Ro. So I’m going to help before you crash.” He paused and looked at the still sitting creative side. “So, what do you do to cheer yourself up normally?”

 

Roman stared at the other in an almost daze, not used to the feeling of having someone who worried about his mental state. “Uh, I usually watch Disney, or I go into my realm.”

 

Virgil nodded. “Do you want to do either of those right now?”

 

“Well…” Roman bit his lip in thought. “I could show you what I do with my realm when I need to cheer myself up a little?” there was a hopeful glint in his eyes as he said this, clearly wanting to show Virgil something specific.

 

“Sounds fun.” the darker trait responded, just happy that the other already seemed distracted from his negative thoughts.

 

With a decisive nod Roman raised his hand and, without further prompting,

 

 _snapped_.

 

Suddenly, their surroundings shifted. Virgil shut his eyes to block out the assault of swirling colors against them. He felt the floor under his feet shift too. He opened his eyes a small amount and peeked down. They were now standing on a sidewalk.

 

He raised his head and looked around in shock. They were outside in a small town, the weather was warm and there weren’t any clouds in the sky. Buildings surrounded them with the occasional tree planted between them. Only a few cars drove by slowly, a calm feeling coming from their leisurely pace, giving the impression of no one here being in a rush. Distantly he could hear a band playing down the street for the people walking by.

 

His attention was drawn to the coffee shop directly in front of them. It was a dark building, made out of stone and metal in an oddly aesthetically pleasing design. But that wasn’t what caught his attention.

 

What caught his attention was the _smell_ drifting out from the inside.

 

What greeted his nose was the wonderful combination of what smelled like freshly brewed coffee and baking bread. He closed his eyes for a moment just to enjoy the scent, before hearing the sound of amused laughter next to him. Virgil snapped his eyes open, embarrassed at having forgotten the other was even there.

 

“Shut it, Princey.” he muttered, not wanting to look up to see the grin on the other’s face.

 

“Don’t worry, Dark and Stormy.” Roman replied without dropping his smile, “I’m just relieved you seem to like the place. Do you wanna go in?”

 

Virgil nodded and followed Roman as the other made his way in.

 

The interior of the shop was just as intricate as the outside. The lights hanging from the ceiling emitted a soft warm glow. Couches and small tables lined the walls, one wall housing a bookshelf that held only well-worn fantasy novels. All in all, the atmosphere of the shop was cozy and inviting. Virgil had only just gotten here and he almost never wanted to _leave_.

 

He noticed suddenly that the few people that were in the shop had all looked up when Roman entered. A few greeted him fondly, asking how he was. Virgil watched as the creative side warmly responded to those who asked that he was doing much better now than he had been. There were no grand gestures in sight, no boisterous claims. Roman wasn’t acting here.

 

The cashier looked up with a smile as they approached. “Roman!” he greeted. “It’s been a while, how’ve you been?”

 

Roman returned the smile. “I’ve been doing fine. No worse than usual, at least.” he then glanced up at the menu before turning to look at Virgil. “What do you want from the menu?” he asked.

 

Virgil blinked before scanning the menu quickly. “Medium Mocha Velvet Ice.” he finally decided on. He glared defensively as Roman raised an amused eyebrow. “What?” he asked. “I just happen to like sweet things, sue me.”

 

Roman chuckled in response. “I would have pegged you as a black coffee drinker, is all.”

 

Virgil shook his head in disgust. “Hell no, it’s _way_ too bitter. Who even drinks it that way?”

 

“I do.” Roman answered plainly, grinning at the other.

 

Now it was Virgil’s turn to raise an eyebrow. “It’s like you’re trying to steal my aesthetic here, Ro.” he teased.

 

Roman only rolled his eyes fondly before saying, “I’ll deal with ordering if you go save us a table to sit at? I’ll bring our drinks when they get here.”

 

Virgil nodded and began to scan his eyes over the shop in search of a good place to sit. He finally decided on a small table in the far corner of the cafe. Sitting with his back facing the corner, he began observing those in the shop. He saw how occasionally one of them would look up at Roman, some of them fondly, some of them in awe.

 

He’s struck with the realization that Roman must come here pretty often. Even imagined, these people were too familiar with Roman for this to be a one time thing. Their movements were too fluid and their features too crisp. Roman had obviously put a lot of time into creating these people to be the way they were. All of them seemed to care about the creative side, and seemed to be aware of who he really was. Though not a prince in this place, it seemed he might as well have been to the people here.

 

How long had Roman stayed in this very shop? How many _years_ was this place worked on? How lonely had he been, that _this_ place with these false people was where he seemed most at ease?

 

 _Have they helped?_ He wanted to ask.

 

_These people you’ve created to love you?_

 

He watched as Roman accepted their order before making his way over to where the darker side was sitting.

 

“I got us some chocolate croissants too. They’re really good from here, trust me.” he said as he sat their drinks and the bag containing their pastries down.

 

Virgil tilted his head in mild confusion. “You didn’t pay him, though? Do you not have to?”

 

Roman laughed lightly as he sat down. “No, I generally don’t have to pay for anything in any of the worlds I make. Occasionally I’ll make worlds were currency isn’t needed at all. It’s not like there'll be an economy crash or something, so I might as well make the people who live there happy too.”

 

“You come to this place pretty often, don’t you?” Virgil asked, taking a sip of his coffee. He blinked in surprise at how good it was.

 

“Is it that obvious?” Roman asked with a slightly embarrassed grimace.

 

Virgil peered at the other over his cup before speaking. “There’s too much detail in this place for it to be new. And you seem really… _at ease_ here.”

 

Roman nodded at the statement. “I tend to come here to recharge. I don’t always pick this place, but I am pretty fond of it.” he gestured to the other side of the shop that housed the bookshelf. “I usually sit over there and read while I drink my coffee.”

 

“Isn’t reading more of Logan’s thing?” Virgil asked, raising his eyebrow curiously.

 

The creative side chuckled and shook his head. “No, _nonfiction_ is Logan’s area. But those are all fairytales and other fictional stories. Which _is_ my area of expertise.” his mouth twitched up into a shy smile. “I actually love reading. It’s good inspiration for new worlds I can create and alter.”

 

Virgil tilted his head as he observed the other. “Speaking of which, I’m surprised you made this place. I thought you only had your kingdom?”

 

“Well…” Roman fidgeted with his sleeve. “Honestly, I can make any sort of realm I can think up. Creativity is who I _am_ , and there’s nothing creative about only doing the same thing all the time. I do love the kingdom I’ve made, I just like some variety occasionally.” he smiled at Virgil as he pulled the croissants out of the bag. “If you’d like, I could show you some of the more interesting ones at some point? There’s a few I think you’d like.”

 

“Sounds fun, Ro.” Virgil said, answering Roman’s smile with his own.

 

They stayed silent for a while as they ate their respective croissants. Virgil almost moaned as the warm and melted chocolate inside the flaky pastry met his tongue. “Holy shit.” he mumbled. He studiously ignored the smug grin from the creative side.

 

“So,” Virgil began, “how long do we have to kill before you want to go meet Pat for cookies?”

 

Roman sighed. “I suppose I’ll be ready to go in a few minutes. I’ll finish my drink first and then we’ll go.”

 

“Ro.” Virgil said, looking at the other meaningfully.

 

Roman grimaced. “Can’t we just drop it? I don’t want to tell them, Virge.”

 

Virgil continued on despite the other’s pleading stare. “I know you don’t. Hell, I get it. _I do_. Until recently I’ve pretty much been doing the same thing. But, Roman.” he stared back at the other steadily. “It sucked when I did it, and I can tell it sucks for you too. You’ve kept it up for so long, but having to keep this act up on top of all the new stress you’re under is wearing you to the bone.” He sighed. “I just don’t want to see you crash and burn, Ro. And I can tell that that’s how this will probably end if you keep going the way you have.”

 

Roman stared at the table between them, silently processing Virgil’s words. “You won’t… tell them, will you?” he asked in a small and unsure voice.

 

“I promised I wouldn’t unless it was life or death, and I meant it. I won’t tell them anything unless you want me to.” Virgil spoke softly. He reached over the table and grasped the other’s hand reassuringly. “I just don’t want you to keep digging yourself deeper into this when you don’t have to.”

 

“Thanks, Virge.” Roman responded shakily after a few moments of silence. His face slowly transformed into a mischievous smirk soon after, however.

 

“What?” Virgil questioned, narrowing his eyes.

 

Roman fluttered his eyelashes dramatically. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were just using this as an excuse to hold my hand, Dark and Stormy.”

 

Virgil rolled his eyes and didn’t bother letting go of the others hand. “Please, Princey. I _actually_ cuddled you to sleep the other night. Holding hands is nothing compared to that, wouldn’t you say?” he teased back, feeling oddly playful.

 

“Hey, that doesn’t count.” Roman replied, his face flushing slightly at the memory.

 

“Doesn’t it?” Virgil hummed back.

 

Roman stuck his tongue out at the other. “Oh, hush.”

 

Virgil smirked. “ _Very_ mature, Ro.”

 

They spent the next few minutes bickering back and forth, both enjoying the banter.

 

Soon, though, Roman finished the last few sips of his coffee and sighed. They both knew he had to go soon or Patton would get worried and come searching for him.

 

“Hey, Roman?”

 

“Yeah?”

 

Virgil picked at his jacket nervously as he spoke. “Sorry for bringing it up again earlier. I don’t mean to add to your stress.”

 

Roman exhaled slowly, watching the other side through lowered eyelids. “It’s okay, Virge. I know you mean well. I’d probably do the same if our roles were reversed.” he smiled at Virgil’s obvious relief that the other wasn’t mad at him.

 

Virgil drank the last few sips of his own drink before he heard the creative side speak again.

 

“Virge?”

 

Virgil raised an eyebrow. “Yeah?” he asked.

 

He watched as the creative side shifted in his seat, uncomfortable with something, but a determined glint was slowly but surely filling his eyes.

 

“I know it’s a dumb question, but… you’re sure they won’t hate me?”

 

Virgil’s gaze softened as he heard the vulnerability clear in the other’s tone. He wasn't sure if Roman thought that they would hate him for lying, or if he thought they might hate who he _really_ was.

 

He wasn’t sure if Roman himself knew.

 

“Aw, Ro.” He stood up from his side of the table and walked around to where Roman sat. Leaning forward, Virgil gathered the other into his arms for a firm hug. He ignored the surprised gasp of breath from him at the action as he pulled back slightly to look Roman in the eyes, trying to will the force of his words into him. “Roman.” he started, “None of us will hate you. None of us _could_ hate you. We love you too much for that.”

 

Roman sniffled and buried his face into the darker side’s chest. Virgil rested his chin on the top of Roman’s head, holding the other silently. He looked around and was happy to see that no one in the shop was paying them any attention.

 

Virgil let go as the creative side pulled away slowly, rubbing at his eyes.

 

“I think… I think I should tell them.” Roman finally admitted. “While I _could_ keep this act up for a lot longer, I really don’t _want_ to.” he looked exhausted suddenly.

 

Virgil smiled at the other side, proud of his decision. “Are you sure you’re up for it?”

 

“Absolutely not.” Roman replied immediately. “But I need to do it anyway.” he stood up and patted Virgil’s shoulder lightly with a smile. “Thanks, Virge.”

 

“So should we go back to your room now?” Virgil asked.

 

Roman only nodded before lifting his hand.

 

_Snap_

 

With a flash, they were standing in Roman’s room once more. Virgil grabbed the edge of his bed to steady himself from the sudden transition. He watched as Roman walked to the corner of the room and looked into the mirror there. He grumbled about the red in his eyes before grabbing his concealer from the nightstand and expertly applying it to ease the redness showing on his face.

 

“You’re pretty good at that, Princey.” Virgil said, tilting his head as he observed the other.

 

Roman laughed dryly. “Practice makes perfect.”

 

Virgil’s eyes widened slightly at the statement before Roman quickly set the concealer back down and straightened his clothes.

 

“I guess it’s now or never.” Roman mumbled.

 

Virgil nodded. “Want me to go with you for like, moral support? Or something?” he asked.

 

Roman turned to the other with a hopeful look in his eyes. “Would you? Honestly I’m a bit… _nervous_ , and having you there might calm me down.”

 

“It’s pretty ironic that you’re saying that the _embodiment_ of anxiety could help calm you down.” Virgil replied teasingly. He pulled his sleeves over his hands as he considered the room’s flickering lights. “So do you have a plan, or?”

 

Shrugging helplessly, Roman replied, “I was just kinda planning on winging it?”

 

Virgil shook his head in amusement. “If that’s what you want to do, Princey, go right ahead. Are you ready to go downstairs now?”

 

Roman nodded wordlessly and rested his hand on the knob before twisting it slowly to open the door.

 

They made their way downstairs silently. Patton could be heard humming from the kitchen and Logan was sitting on the couch, quietly reading with a blanket thrown over his lap to keep warm.

 

Patton poked his head out at the sound of the other two coming downstairs. “Are you ready to start, Kiddo?” he asked excitedly, then slowly furrowed his eyebrow in worry at the look on Roman’s face. “You okay, Roman?” he asked.

 

Roman shifted in place slightly. “Not really, Padre. Actually… if you wouldn’t mind, there’s some stuff I’d like to tell all of you. It’s kind of important.”

 

“Oh, _of course,_ Ro.” Patton said, walking into the living room and taking a seat next to Logan, giving Roman his full attention. He elbowed Logan subtly to gesture that he should put his book down, then smiled when the logical side reluctantly complied. “We’re all ears.”

 

Roman sighed and moved to sit in the armchair across from the couch. He watched as Virgil shrugged and just sat on the floor as the creative side thought. He needed to figure out how to word all of this, but _how_?

 

_Well, might as well just dive in._

 

“I haven’t been completely honest with you all. Or, that is to say that…” he paused and frowned. Was he _really_ sure he wanted to say this? Everything would change after this. Nothing would be the same anymore, and he’d no longer be able to hide behind his carefully crafted facade.

 

As he stopped and looked at the others, however, his determination to tell them came back full force. There was concern in Patton’s gaze, simple curiosity in Logan’s, and supportiveness in Virgil’s. And above all, he realised that they all contained _love_.

 

 _If Virge didn’t hate me for it, they probably won’t either. I just have to remember that_ , he thought.

 

He exhaled slowly before speaking again. “How you know me isn’t _quite_ the real version of me. I… when Thomas was younger, he wanted to be a prince. He loved Disney princes and he wanted to be strong and brave like one of them. He would pretend to be a prince in his mind and, as the embodiment of his hopes and dreams, that’s the form I decided to take to keep him happy.” Roman paused and ran a hand through his hair. “But, that’s not who I _am_. It’s just that it was so much _safer_ to continue pretending to be someone who was brave and confident. And I felt bad for lying to you guys so much, but I couldn’t bear to tell you the truth.”

 

He fidgeted with his sash as he spoke, not looking at the others. “The truth is that I’m not brave. Not in the way I’ve been pretending to be. I’m not even confidant. I’m just good at _acting_. I could have continued going with this, but ever since Thomas chose a creative career instead of biochemical engineering like he planned, I’ve been under _way_ more stress than I used to be. I honestly barely sleep because I need to come up with good content and ideas for Thomas to use, or he won’t have a job anymore and it’d be my fault and-” he stopped as he felt a tap on his leg. It was Virgil looking at him with barely hidden concern. _‘Breathe’_ the other mouthed at him. Roman nodded and inhaled deeply before continuing.

 

His hands gripped the fabric of the chair to anchor himself as he went on. “I’m just too _tired_ to keep the act up anymore. I definitely don’t have the energy to keep doing this for the rest of our _lives_. Pretending to be someone who’s so loud and dramatic kinda sucks the energy out of me.”

 

“I’m sorry for lying so much, guys. I just…” he trailed off, unsure of how to finish his sentence. He looked down once more. “I’d understand if you were… upset with me for this.”

 

“Oh, _Kiddo_.”

 

Roman looked up at the watery sound in Patton’s tone, just in time to be enveloped in solid hug from the parental side. Roman put his arms around him without thinking, shocked that the other still even _wanted_ to hug him.

 

“I’m so sorry you felt like you had to hide this from us, honey.” Patton said as he ran a hand through Roman’s hair. “We’re a family, Ro. That means that we should always be able to be ourselves around each other with no fear of judgement.”

 

“You’re not mad, then?” Roman asked, almost afraid to hope.

 

He felt Patton sigh. “Well you know I’m not really a fan of lying, Ro.” Roman stiffened at the statement before Patton continued, “But I’m not mad about this. Being upset about you acting different than you are to protect yourself would make me a bit of a hypocrite after all, wouldn’t it?”

 

Roman’s head snapped up to look at Patton at that. He took in the other’s sad smile through watery eyes. “Oh.” was all he could manage to say.

 

He sniffled and laughed a little. “It’s funny,” Roman started, “Virgil said pretty much the same thing when I asked him that.”

 

He heard Virgil’s small laugh coupled with a light punch to his leg. “Hey, no ratting me out, Ro.”

 

Patton tilted his head as he watched the two fondly, still smiling sadly. “I think… we all need to improve on being who we _really_ are with each other.” he said. He filed Logan’s careful silence away to look into at a later date. For now, he busied himself with carding his hand through his creative son’s hair slowly.

 

"Well," Roman said. "I did this with Virge, so I should do it for you guys too." With that, he snapped into his casual outfit once more, before looking at them steadily and speaking. "Hi, my name is Roman and I'm Thomas's creativity. I'm actually kind of shy and I like making things. I'm not really a prince, but I enjoy acting when it's fun."

 

Patton grinned at him. "Aww, that was so nice to hear, Kiddo!"

 

Roman smiled as Virgil nudged him. “Told you it’d work out, Ro.” the darker trait said with a small smirk.

 

“Out of curiosity,” Logan spoke up from the couch, “how did Virgil become aware of this?”

 

Roman sighed, “He noticed I was acting off a few days ago. He showed up at my room to confront me, and I kinda just ended up spilling everything.”

 

“In your defence,” Virgil began, “I only noticed cause you were pretty exhausted. I wasn’t even completely sure something was off at first.”

 

Patton frowned. “I wish I had noticed something was wrong sooner.” he said. “By the way, what’s this about you not getting enough sleep again, Kiddo?” he asked, looking down at Roman. 

 

Roman laughed nervously, “I’ve been getting more sleep since I talked to Virge a few days ago, don’t worry Padre.”

 

“It’s my job to worry about you all, sweetie,”

 

“Pretty sure that’s _my_ job, Pat.” Virgil spoke up from the floor with a small smile.

 

Patton smiled back at his dark strange son. “It can be both of our jobs, then.”

 

“I’m not sure if now is an appropriate time to bring it up, but Roman, you’ve mentioned that you’re stressed due mostly to being under pressure to create content and ideas at a fast pace, correct?” Logan asked.

 

Roman pulled back from hugging Patton to look more clearly at the logical side. “I guess? That’s most of it anyway.”

 

Logan nodded. “I see. Well, if you’d like, there are a few things we could try to move around to lessen the strain on you in that regard. Also, we could possibly assist more in creating ideas occasionally if you feel that that could also be of some help to you.”

 

Roman blinked in shock. “Uh, yeah actually. That’d be a really big help.” he smiled at the logical side, a rush of gratitude towards the other hitting him. “Thanks, Lo.”

 

“It’s no trouble, Roman.” Logan replied with his own small smile. “I’m happy to help.”

 

Patton squealed and wrapped Roman into another hug. “I have the best family!” he announced loudly. He motioned for Virgil to join the hug too and had to actually hold in a scream when his sweet son complied. He wrapped the younger in his arms as he got closer. The moral side then shifted so he could turn around enough to look at Logan. “Lo? Please?” he asked, holding an arm out for the logical side.

 

Logan sighed fondly at them before getting up to join them. He chuckled as Patton made happy and incoherent noises at the sight of him walking forward. “Actually,” Logan said, stopping short of the others, “this is a bit of an uncomfortable fit for all involved with your different levels of elevation. Might I suggest we all move to the floor? Perhaps on a blanket, or another comfortable surface?”

 

Patton blinked before smiling gleefully. “We can make a pillow fort!” he exclaimed.

 

“Satisfactory.” Logan replied, adjusting his glasses.

 

A few snaps later and the furniture was gone and the floor was now a soft and fluffy material instead of a hard floor, and was piled high with pillows and soft blankets. The four of them were huddled together in the middle of the room, comfortably laying on and over each other in a lazy tangle of limbs.

 

“I think we should _all_ make cookies together tomorrow.” Patton started. “And then after that, we can talk more about everything if you’re feeling up to it, Ro.”

 

Roman closed his eyes and nodded in response. “Okay, Pat.” his head resting comfortably on Virgil’s chest and his legs were tangled with Patton’s. He never wanted to get up from this comfortable position again. But he knew there was a lot that needed to be talked about now, and he knew that not all of it would be pleasant.

 

Now, though, he knew that he could handle it. He wasn’t alone anymore and _they didn’t hate him_. They weren’t even _mad_ at him. So much weight was lifted from his chest at that fact. He had been so afraid of rejection from the others, he hadn’t stopped to consider the opposite being possible too. They all accepted him as he was, and he couldn’t be happier.

 

He was the first to drift off to sleep that way, cradled by the others, and their love.

 

Things would be okay.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> I appreciate comments :)


End file.
